Forever
by StarlitDreamer
Summary: When my best friend and I are wrecked in the Pacific Ocean, we are swept away to a mysterious island that, according to the outside world and all reason, should not exist, and embroiled in a thrilling new life. However, there's a heartbreaking drawback.
1. Goodbyes

Written for the library in Waterfall City, Dinotopia, by Susan Tarina: Dolphinback.

* * *

I don't know if anyone will ever read this, or if it will merely become one of the thousands of unread scrolls; lost in the depths of this magnificent collection. However, since I am the newest Dolphinback here, and the first in seventy-one years, Alab and Tarno insist that it will be a valuable addition to the library, so I will take the time between my training to write it. However, I suspect that this is merely another of Alab's schemes to teach me patience, in which area he still believes me seriously lacking. This is the tale of how I and another, Jilliana Cardow, come to be here.

* * *

At the point where my story starts, we had just finished our third semester at a college in the heart of Washington D.C... only a couple blocks from the White House and the Smithsonian museum. I suppose that for you to understand just how large of a change this was for us, I should describe the town where we'd spent our younger years. Way up on the side of a sleeping volcano, it was the kind of town where there was one high school, one (small) movie theater, and most places were closed on Sundays so that their employees could attend whichever of the town's twenty-some churches they belonged to. Our athletes were the best in the state in almost everything because they trained at the highest altitude and most of the town's inhabitants were scientists employed at the lab at the town's heart, which consequently resulted in the highest IQ concentration of almost any other place. This was not only true of the adults, but also of the children. It was common for high school students to be taking college courses by their sophomore year and graduate having already taken Calculus and able to test out of several of the freshman classes. However, the main reason that we both loved our little town so much was because you could climb a few meters up any of the countless rocky faces and suddenly see a whole new place that stretched countless miles in every direction. You could, for a moment, forget all problems and feel as free as if you were flying. The dessert air was dry, the stars like bright gems in the sky every night (unless there were clouds), it snowed into at least March every year, and during the summer it was always at least 90o in the shade. Needless to say, we were completely changing everything about the life we knew in moving to D.C. The first few days of every semester were spent re-learning how to breathe and taming our unruly hair in the humidity.

Along with our geographical history, I suppose a bit of background to our friendship would help you a little as well. Jill and I met in eighth grade and instantly got along, becoming best friends by the end of the year. Broken hearts and social issues in ninth and tenth grade, eleventh grade teachers and college worries, twelfth grade senioritis and goodbyes... all the while trying to make A's in every class... we'd gotten through all of it together. She's my best friend... my sister... I think the one person who really knows me completely and loves me for all of it. What made this funny was that we were polar opposites in almost every way you could think of. She was quiet, sensible, and taller than a lot of the guys in our high school (which caused her a great deal of annoyance). I was loud, impulsive, and one of the very shortest in our graduating class. She knew what she was going to major in by high school and I had too many interests to choose just one or even two. However, that seemed to not matter much, because I have never had as good a friend as her and most likely never will.

* * *

"Hey, they need more coffee at table five. Could you get it please? My hands are full."

"I'm on it."

I grabbed the coffee pot and walked over to the table.

"More coffee, sir?"

I gave the couple a smile as I filled up their mugs. As I walked away, someone from another table called my attention to _their_ empty cup.

"Excuse me, miss."

Back in the kitchen, Kaley was up to her elbows in dirty dishwater and Jill was unloading a precariously balanced tower of dishes from her tray. I leaned against the counter for just a minute, putting down the couple of empty plates I was holding and then lending Jill a hand with her tray.

"I'm really missing Tina today."

"No kidding... I think I'm realizing exactly how much she does. She's going to get bigger tips from me from now on."

"Me too."

Jenny poked her head through the kitchen door.

"What are you two doing just standing around? We just got a party of six in at table seventeen, table four wants more iced tea, and table twenty-three is ready to order."

With a sigh, Jill and I got back to work.

* * *

After work, we walked down the street, arms linked and eyes wandering over the store windows. "Oh man," I groaned to Jill, "I'm so tired..."

"You need to get more sleep... you stay up until like 3 every night."

"Try 12... and you're just as guilty as me of staying up late."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one complaining. Nor am I the one who needs energy for ballet every day."

I shut my mouth and made a face at her. Our "arguments" normally ended that way.

"Oh look, an antique store! I haven't seen it before... c'mon, let's go in!"

Jill grabbed my arm and pulled me through the door. I rolled my eyes, but grinned and followed her. She loved antique stores, and it was a rare day when we escaped one without some new trinket. Not that we spent money carelessly; everything we got had a purpose (or at least almost everything). Our tiny apartment was full of old furniture and books. Since high school, she had dragged me into many antique shops and I was now just as guilty as her of spending entire afternoons in the little stores. In fact, about half of the old books were mine and the furniture that dotted the apartment was as much mine as hers.

As soon as we got inside, Jill disappeared into the back of the shop while I was arrested by the shelves of books toward the front. The small shop itself looked like an antique; dusty and dimly lit. The overall effect was almost one of stepping back in time, reminding me of a little cabin of pillaged items on a pirate ship more than anything. I loved it right away. My eyes played over the maze of shelves and dusty glass cases, noticing that they were arranged in nothing resembling proper rows as my fingers lazily fell from the spines of the volumes to my left. I wove my way slowly through the shop; stopping to look at most of the million things that drew my gaze: books, jewelry, clothes, and the many odd trinkets. I finally located Jill, who was sitting on the ground next to a bunch of old maps. She was studying one that looked like it could be seventy years old at least.

"What'd you find?"

She grinned, not looking up. "Pirate map."

I laughed softly, rifling through the selection of old parchment on the table. Finding nothing all that interesting, I turned around, running my finger over another shelf full of old dusty books; this place had an unusually large number of books. Jill had this thing for maps. It seemed like she could look at them for hours. She had maps covering the walls of her room and there were even a few that had trickled into the rest of the apartment after her room had become too full. I liked maps of the fantasy worlds I read about, but most maps of the real world got boring quite fast. I much preferred books; especially books like these. I traced the fancy gold lettering set into the green leather cover absentmindedly, thinking about nothing in particular. Then I came back and actually read the letters that I was tracing again and again: _Kardok's Warriors_. I was caught right away... I picked it up and began to read.

* * *

About three hours later, we left the shop. I put my new books in my bag and played with the beautiful new ring on my finger. The lady who owned the shop had said that this ring was at least fifty years old. Jill folded up her map and stowed it in her bag along with the rest of her purchases.

When we reached our apartment, we unloaded our bags. I laughed as half a dozen new books were added to our already over-crowded bookshelf. "We're going to need a new bookshelf soon."

Jill looked over her shoulder and grinned as she watched me fail to wedge the last two in between the others. "Or like now... Hey, want dinner?"

I glanced at the clock, "Nope, thanks. I've got to leave now or I'm gonna be late."

"You've got to eat something or you're going to faint during class."

This is something that she says just to annoy me, knowing that I am proud of the fact that I have never fainted.

"Yes Mom..."

She made a face as I grabbed my dance bag from the corner and stuffed a few granola bars, and a water bottle inside.

* * *

When you think about ballet teachers, you'd normally think of a lady maybe in her mid forties or fifties who has danced all of her life. My instructor was sixty-seven and proud of it. He knew absolutely everything about ballet and loved it more than anything. I was so blessed to have his enthusiastic instruction and literally improved by leaps and bounds under his watchful and rather picky eye. He made sure that all his dancers felt completely comfortable and safe at his studio and was like a grandpa to every one of us. The first day of class, he had told me that I reminded him of one of his students that had gone on to dance the role of Juliet in and international tour of the ballet _Romeo and Juliet_. He'd called me Juliet from then on.

"Alright girls, great job today. I'll see you tomorrow. Juliet, may I talk to you a moment?"

I walked over and hugged my dance teacher. He smiled a little ruefully, "So, this is goodbye for now. I just want you to know that you've improved so much this year and if you were staying this semester, I'd have you dance the swan princess in the recital."

My eyes widened and a wave of disappointment hit me. He grinned, "Don't worry, you'll be coming back and I'm sure you'll be even better then. There'll be other opportunities."

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad to know that I've improved anyway."

He hugged me again, "I'll miss ya Juliet. Come back soon."

I grinned at the use of my pet name. "Bye grandpa, don't worry, I will... I'll be back before you know it."


	2. Flash From the Past

AN: Hi everyone! Well, I just spent two days in the car, so there's been a sudden rush of creativity. I don't know when the next rush will hit, so this may be the last set of updates for a while.

This chapter is dedicated to "Jill", who's always there for me and keeps me going when I feel like giving up. Love you!

* * *

I scowled as I looked at my phone.

"He called me _again_! I'm glad I missed it."

Jill glanced up from her book.

"Really? Wow, he's denser than I thought."

"Me too." I huffed, slouching back into my chair and tossing my phone onto the table.

"I thought that turning him down _five_ times in the past three days might give him the hint. Apparently not."

"You know, turning him down flat would be more effective and probably nicer than just letting him ask you over and over again."

"You know I can't do that. Besides, you're the last person to talk. At least I haven't said yes to him just because I feel bad."

She glared at me. In high school, she had gone on several "pity dates" and I still never passed up an opportunity to make fun of her for them. I grinned, then slumped back again dejectedly.

"By the way, I'm going out with Connor tonight. I'll be back prolly around nine."

"K... I'll be here... alone... watching tv and eating the rest of our ice cream."

"Oh shut up." Jill dug around in her purse for her phone.

"Hey Jill... your phone's ringing."

"Shut up Sue! Hello? Hi Con!... Um, no I don't think she'd mind."

I looked at her skeptically. "If he wants me to take care of his piranha again, I won't do it. That thing is evil. I still have scars from when it bit me."

"That's because you stuck your hand in the bowl while you were wearing jewelry. Only a moron would stick their hand in a bowl with a piranha even with no jewelry on."

"Hey! No one told me it was a piranha and it kept its mouth shut up until then, so I didn't see the teeth. I won't do it."

"Well he doesn't want you to watch it; he wants you to come along with us as a date for his cousin. He just got here and Connor feels bad abandoning him."

"Does he bite?"

"Sue!"

"Well then, does he speak English? Cuz the last blind date you two set up for me wasn't so great. The guy knew two words in English... 'pretty' and 'girl'... _that_ was a creepy date."

Jill rolled her eyes, "_That _was a joke... the guy spoke perfect English. Connor, she'd love to. Ok, see you then. Love you too. Bye."

"You didn't ask if he spoke English! And it was still a creepy date even if it was all a joke."

"I didn't have to, he heard you over the phone. Oh, just c'mon. You never know... he might be cute too. Anyway, you're not going to be stuck at home by yourself now."

I pulled myself off the couch. "Fine, but you owe me if he's a creeper. Where are we going by the way?"

"The Dance Club and the beach."

"Great... so if the guy can't dance I'm gonna have to sit out with him and watch you two dance."

"Why don't you just hope that he can dance? Let's get ready... they're picking us up in half an hour."

* * *

"Hi Connor, thanks for the early warning!"

"Sure, anytime. Hi sweetheart."

"Hi."

"Ladies, this is my cousin Neal. Neal, this is Jill and Susan."

My jaw dropped and I almost collapsed. Neal looked shocked too and we just stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Susie..?"

"Neal? Ok. Hi. Um... I didn't know... I mean... Wow!"

"Yeah... Wow. Hi... It's been a while."

I laughed and he gave me a hug. It was all very awkward, especially since Jill and Connor watched with confusion. I made a face at Jill to tell her that I'd explain later and she nodded.

"Well, let's get going then."

* * *

"Well...?!"

Jill and I had excused ourselves after we ordered and headed off to find the bathroom. I took a breath.

"Neal and I met in California a few summers ago. At that point, he had a girlfriend and was all set to become a big actor. When the trip was over, we kept up and eventually we got to be good friends. I had a major crush on him (which he didn't know), but about six months later he told me about this movie that he had gotten a call-back to. It wasn't a good movie, and I suggested that he should maybe think about it a little more. Well, he didn't like that and we got into an argument and haven't heard from each other in two and a half years. After I got over being angry at him, it took me about six months before I could think about him without feeling upset. I only think about him sometimes now, and it was just a complete shock to see him again."

She looked at me, "You still like him?"

"Uh... I'll tell you when I'm done feeling dazed at the weirdness of being on a date with him."

* * *

In spite of my trepidations, the night went well, and I was surprised to find that it was in no way uncomfortable and the two of us got along just like we had three years ago. Neal turned out to be a good dancer after all and we all danced for hours. Later, we drove out to the beach and Neal turned me down the beach the opposite direction from where Jill and Connor were walking. After a few minutes of silence, he cleared his throat.

"Um, Susie? I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry. About what I said... and did. You were right and I knew that and that's why I got angry. Later on, I wanted to apologize, but I didn't know how and I guess I was too proud. I've missed talking to you and everything a whole lot these past couple years and... well... I'm really sorry."

I smiled. "I forgive you. I've missed you too. I was pretty mad at you for a while and then I just figured that you probably didn't really want to hear from me. How did that call-back go, by the way?"

He grinned, "I got there and ended up telling him that I couldn't audition for his show because I felt that it was immoral and walking out. I got into the audition room and was all set to go, and then I just couldn't. Everything you'd said to me just kept playing over and over in my head and I couldn't make myself do it."

"Well, I have to admit that I'm glad that I had that kind of impact."

He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Me too."

"So are you still seeing that one girl?"

He made a face, "No. That ended about two years ago. I don't have a girlfriend right now."

"Oh, ok."

I relaxed; I felt a little stupid for asking the question, but I had been a little worried all night that I was on a date with someone who had a girlfriend. Neal looked over his shoulder down the beach after his cousin and Jill.

"Hey, come on. Let's catch up with them and watch."

"Watch what?"

He grinned, grabbed my hand, and started running. Rolling my eyes, I sped up so that my hand wouldn't get pulled off. When we could finally see them again, Neal slowed and I turned to him.

"Ok, so we caught up to them... why exactly would we want to watch them?"

"Look, or you're going to miss it."

I looked down the beach again, just in time to see Connor get down on one knee. My jaw dropped.

"No way. He's not..?"

I sat down hard on the sand as he brought out the ring and she stared at him in shock. Neal looked at me.

"You alright?"

"Course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be? My best friend's engaged to the guy of her dreams... that's ... great."

He pulled me up and turned me back the way we had come. "Come on... maybe we should leave."

I wiped away a tear. "Yeah, alright."

We walked a while. He didn't interrupt the silence and just let me cry. Finally, I gave a shaky sigh.

"It's not that I'm not happy for her. I'm really happy, it's just a bit unexpected. And we've been best friends since middle school. Now she's going to get married and move out and have a family of her own... not that that's a bad thing at all... but..."

"You're worried she won't have time for you."

"Well not... well, I guess. I know that's stupid. I guess I'm a little jealous too. But I am happy for her. I'll be fine later, I'm just a bit shocked."

He grinned, "This has been quite a night for you, hasn't it?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Guess what?"

I was fine now, and decided to pretend to not notice the ring on Jill's finger and play dumb.

"What?"

"I'm engaged!"

I laughed, "Wow Connor... you've got great timing... asking her right before we leave for six months in a foreign country!" Jill gave me a look, and I hugged her. "Kidding! That's awesome! I'm so happy for you. Congratulations Con!"

Neal hugged Jill, "Well I guess that means that you're gonna be my new cousin. Congrats, guys. When's the wedding?"

"They wouldn't know that... they've only been engaged for like ten minutes!"

"Good point."

I looked at my watch, "Well I hate to say it, but we should probably head home, we have to finish packing and be at the airport in twenty-four hours."

* * *

"Got the passports?"

"Check!"

"Boarding passes?"

"Yes Mom."

"Ok, well have a really good flight and call me in Los Angeles!"

"Will do. Love you Mommy!"

"Love you too, bye."

"Bye."

Jill looked at me impatiently as I hung up my phone.

"C'mon and help me finish; Connor's going to be here soon."

I grinned, "Oh, how nice of him to come see us off. Even though it's two in the morning."

"Neal's coming too. Clam up and come're."

I clammed up... and helped her return the furniture to its original places. "Looks just like when we moved in."

"Yeah, except for a few things..."

"We patched up the holes in the wall."

The doorbell interrupted our conversation and I grinned at my friend again. "Your hubby's here. Go ahead, you can answer it."

Blushing, she walked to the door and I finished packing our books into a box that sat on the kitchen table.

"Hi Susie."

I turned around, "Neal... hi! Thanks for coming to see us off."

"Of course. Need help with that?"

"Sure."

We got the car packed and Neal drove us to the airport. At the security gate, we gave Connor a few last instructions about the stuff that we were having him mail to us once we got an apartment. As Jill and Connor said goodbye, Neal pulled me aside and handed me something.

"Hey, here's my phone number, e-mail, stuff like that. I don't know if you've still got it or not, but now you've got it again. I'm planning to come up to visit Connor after you guys get back to help him get ready for the wedding and stuff and I'll see you at the wedding at least. Connor's asked me to be the best man."

I smiled, "And I'm going to be the matron of honor."

He returned my smile. "Cool. Anyway, I was hoping that we could hang out then and talk and kinda get to know each other again."

"Sounds good. I'll be looking forward to it."

"Me too."

"Ready Sue?"

"Yeah, I'm coming. Bye Neal."

He wrapped me in a hug, "Bye Susie. It's nice to see you again and everything."

"You too. See you in a few months."


	3. Second Thoughts

I woke up and checked my watch; six o'clock. We had about an hour left before we landed in Los Angeles. Then an hour-long layover before our flight to New Zealand. I glanced at Jill, who was still sleeping. I stuck my hands in my sweatshirt pocket and felt something paper inside. I pulled it out, confused, and then realized that it was the paper that Neal had handed me. I opened it and looked it over, just because I was bored. E-mail, cell phone, address. I noticed that it was a New York City address. So he'd moved away from California sometime in the past two and a half years. I got my book out and started to read. Sometime after, Jill stirred, sat up, and stretched.

"What time is it?"

"Six. We have an hour."

"Ok."

About twenty minutes later, I looked over at Jill. She was staring at her ring. I closed my book.

"It's really a gorgeous ring."

"Hu? Oh, thanks."

"What's wrong?

"Nothing, just... do you think I said yes too fast?"

"Why?"

"Well, we've only been dating for a year and a few months."

I looked at her. "You know that you're really the only person who can answer that."

"I know... I mean, I love him and I can't really imagine what I'd do without him, but what if it's too soon?"

"What did your parents think?"

"They were all very supportive. And happy."

"So neither his or your parents said anything about it being too early?"

"No."

"Well, it sounds like you made the right decision to me."

She looked up at me. "Really?"

"Yeah. I know you guys will be good for each other. And I honestly don't think it's too soon... you two would get married eventually. Neither of you make important decisions easily unless you're really sure about your decision, so the simple fact that you've both made the decision at all says a lot to me."

Jill looked relieved, "Ok, thanks."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for."

A few moments passed before I brought up something that was bugging me. "Connor asked Neal to be the best man."

She giggled, "I know... we kinda planned that. We figured that since the two of you were the first to know, you sorta deserved those spots."

"I've got to walk down the aisle with him now."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing... it's just a little weird and ironic. Did you talk about anything else to do with the wedding at all? Like, color scheme, location, size, anything like that?"

She shook her head and smiled, "Not really... but I was thinking..."

* * *

When we landed in Los Angeles, we got breakfast, walked to our gate, and called our families. Before we realized that the hour was up, the attendant was boarding, so we said goodbye and hung up our phones. I sighed shakily, dangerously close to tears.

"This will not be an easy six months."

Jill was in the same situation. "Nope. Maybe we _should_ have gone back home before heading off."

"We didn't have enough money for that."

"I know, but this is going to be a _long_ time without seeing our families at all."

"Let's just not think about it right now, or I'm going to cry. I think we can board now anyway."

* * *

"Oh look, TV's! I wonder if they have anything good."

"Yup... all the Harry Potter movies..."

She grinned. "Well that should last us almost the whole trip!"

"I wonder if they serve popcorn on this flight."

* * *

Halfway through _Goblet of Fire_, something broke. That's just what it sounded like... and felt like. The plane lurched and the passengers were jerked forward. The captain's voice sounded over the speaker, cutting through the confusion of voices. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Johnson. Please remain calm. We are not in any danger. However, we will have to make an unscheduled stop and since we are now over the Pacific Ocean, please remove your seats cushions. These function as life vests, so please put them on. The stewards will assist you. Please brace yourself. Thank you."

Some people panicked, others remained perfectly calm, helping the former with their life vests. Somehow, everyone was seated again and braced themselves for our "unscheduled stop". We must have had a very skillful pilot, because he brought us into land much smoother than I expected, especially with, as I suspected, an engine out. As soon as we landed, the flight attendants were at the emergency exits; deploying the slides/life rafts. It was impressive at how calm they stayed while ushering people down the slide. Once in the water, people clung to one another so they wouldn't get swept away. About half of the passengers were out of the plane when one of the large waves loosened my grip. After that, the ocean seemed suddenly to come alive, tossing our plane around like a leaf. People screamed and held on tighter to each other and whatever part of the plane they could. Then there were search lights and helicopters circled around overhead. Ladders and metal cages were dropped and children were loaded up into the copters. Full ones flew off and people continued to load on. Jill and I hung on as tightly as we could to the plane until we could have a chance to get loaded into something. Another wave slammed into my chest and my hand slipped. Jill's arm was jerked backward and she cried out in pain. I winced, but held on as it was my only chance of staying anywhere near the plane. Another wave slammed into me and I struggled to get a better grip on Jill's arm.

"Susan!"  
I barely heard her scream over the noise all around us, but I looked up and saw she barely had a grip on the plane. My blood froze as another wave hit us and her hand was ripped from its hold.


	4. Swept Away

AN: So this chapter is a little boring I know, but it's just getting us where we need to go. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

* * *

We screamed as loud as we could, but all it accomplished was to get our mouths full of salt water. No one heard us and we were swept further and further away. The only things that kept us near the surface were the life vests. The plane disappeared and all too soon, even the helicopter searchlights were gone. I could feel myself crying and Jill and I were clutching onto each other so tightly that our arms were almost numb.

"What now?!" I screamed as loudly as I could.

She shook her head. We floated... struggling to stay above the water and together. The sea eventually calmed, but try as we might, we could catch no sight of anything. Jill began to panic. Jill never panics.

"There's nothing... anywhere... it's just flat. I hate flat! Where's the plane?!"

"I don't know. Jill, calm down. We're going to be... alright."

She took a deep, shaky breath. I paused to think.

"Ok, here's what we'll do. One of us stays awake and paddles while the other one sleeps. The sun's that way, so that's East. We were heading West, so we just paddle West until we... um... find land."

She nodded. We both knew that it was no where near a great plan, but it was better than drowning immediately.

"I'll take first watch."

I didn't bother arguing, "Alright, wake me when you're about to fall asleep."

* * *

"Sue... Sue! Wake up!"

"W...what's wrong?"

"There's something swimming under us."

I looked down toward my feet and sure enough, there was something very large swimming under them. I swallowed and looked at Jill.

"It's alright... maybe they won't see us."

Haha... Famous last words I'm sure, but we were going to go crazy if we let ourselves believe that there was something that was going to eat us swimming right beneath our feet. We watched nervously, waiting to see what they would do. They didn't attack... so that was a good sign... maybe. After looking at them for awhile, I nudged Jill.

"I think they're dolphins."

She peered down, "I... I... yeah! I think they are!" This knowledge relaxed her a great deal. We still watched them warily however, not wanting to be surprised by anything. After watching them circle for a while, one of them surfaced a few feet away; followed by the other. They _were_ dolphins after all. One brushed against me and I felt the smooth skin slide over my arm. Four more times they circled us, bumping into us gently. Since we didn't know quite what to do, we just floated there; watching. Eventually, one of the dolphins took a slightly more aggressive approach, nudging my arm like a puppy when it wants you to pet it.

"What do they want?"

Jill shook her head, as bewildered as I was. "Maybe... um... maybe they want us to... pet... them..?"

Hesitantly, I reached out my hand, brushing my fingertips against the smooth skin. My fingers slid along as it swam around until it stopped swimming, merely floating. The dolphin looked at me rather expectantly out of the corner of its eye. Looking down, I saw that my hand was resting on its dorsal fin. I blinked. It blinked back. I tightened my fingers around its fin and looked at Jill. She had hold of her own dolphin and before we could think much more about it, the dolphins took off through the water.

* * *

I held on tightly to the dolphin's slippery fin and struggled to keep my mouth free of water. Time went by; I grew numb from the cold water. Hours passed.

* * *

It took me a moment to realize that my dolphin had stopped. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking a lot until the world came into focus again. An island gradually came into focus.

"Land!" I gasped.

I looked down at my feet and found that they were resting on the sand. I pried my fingers away from the dolphin's fin and tried to stumble forward. I collapsed into the water, gasping for air and getting lungs full of water instead. I struggled to stand and couldn't; I was going to die here, under four feet of water; only yards from shore. Even in my dazed state, the irony was apparent. Panic began to set in and I thrashed my arms, but couldn't make my legs support my weight. Then I felt the dolphin's fin between my fingers again and grabbed hold. As I broke the surface again, I gasped for breath, choking and spluttering. Jill hadn't been quite as stupid as me, apparently realizing that her legs wouldn't support her.

"This poor dolphin got stuck with the stupid one." I muttered.

The dolphin opened its mouth and laughed at me. I was too tired to find this strange and just smiled and concentrated on moving my legs back and forth until I could finally stand upright. Jill and I thanked the dolphins and began to head for shore. When we reached it, we collapsed; not having much more energy than what was required to get that far. Then all the water that we'd swallowed apparently decided that it didn't like being in our stomachs and we retched several times.


	5. Always Wanted an Adventure

AN: Well, here's chapter five! So I know that it's rather monotonous, but it's supposed to be. If you find this boring, don't worry... loads of action starts very soon! Enjoy!

* * *

I woke, feeling slightly better, but still very weak. Jill was still asleep next to me. After a couple seconds, I felt water around my waist. Looking at my feet, I saw that the tide had risen. Shaking Jill weakly, I tried to speak and could barely manage it.

"Jill." I croaked. "Jill, wake up."

She stirred slightly, but didn't wake. I tried to shake her harder.

"Jill."

Finally, her eyelids fluttered open. I pointed to the water, unable to speak again. We began to slowly and weakly pull ourselves up the beach, pausing quite often to catch our breath. After what seemed like ages, we made it far enough to be out of the water. I looked around, but couldn't see any distinctions in the land around us. And I was thirsty... so thirsty...

* * *

The next time I woke, it was with a strangled yelp and my hand burning. Jill stirred, startled. She put her hand down on the sand and gave a pained shout as well. The sand was burning hot from the sun that was beating down on our backs. Weakly, we stumbled to our feet, leaning on each other so we wouldn't touch the sand again. I looked at the land around us again, this time taking in a few more details. Unfortunately, there weren't very many details to take in at all. We had the ocean on one side and on the other there was sand... sand for miles. Very, very far off, I could barely see clouds which I hoped defined something, anything besides sand.

"Aand... it's flat."

"Very."

Jill's shoulders slumped. I watched for a minute, then put my arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, we've always wanted an adventure, right? At least we're together."

She looked at me with tears in her eyes and smiled, squeezing my hand, "Yeah."

"Well, we've got one: no food or water, we're exhausted, starving, and parched and we have to cross a desert."

Jill wiped away the tears and looked at me with a fierce kind of determination that I've never seen in anyone else.

"Let's go."

* * *

We walked... and walked... and walked... Hours dragged by and the sun beat down hotter than I had ever felt.

* * *

I stumbled as my foot hit a rock. Jill caught my arm and steadied me. I looked at her and smiled, my lips cracking and blood beading on them. I was too weak to say anything. I had no idea how long we had been walking. I rubbed my eyes, clearing away all the sand crusted there. Our skin was sunburnt and our thirst would soon drive us insane. And it was hot... so hot.

* * *

The sun gradually sank toward the horizon. As if we weren't uncomfortable enough, the setting sun was shining almost head-on in our eyes. I gazed out across the sand, looking for anything that was different from the monotonous line of the sand. Eventually, I looked up and noticed that the sun was gone. We still stumbled along, barely conscious, not able to sleep because the sand was still burning. Finally, the sand was cool enough for us to not get burnt and we collapsed. The pounding in my head was becoming unbearable. I felt like I was going to die.

* * *

I was home in bed, sleeping in on a Saturday morning. What a strange dream that had been. I would have to remember to tell Jill about it. Why was my head hurting so bad and where did my blankets go? And why was I so thirsty? As I opened my eyes, the horrible realization that it hadn't been a dream crashed into me with full force. For a few minutes, I was beaten down by pain and disappointment. I rolled over to go back to sleep, to forget it all, but the sand was burning hot again. Unable to touch the sand, we had no option but to be on our way.

* * *

I decided that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to drown at sea. At least it would have been a fast death compared to this. However, it was a little better than the first day.

"Sue, what _is_ that?!"

Jill's whisper drew me out of my thoughts and I looked up to where she was pointing. About a score of yards from us, the strangest creature I had ever seen was bent over another creature. This second one was dead, and as we watched, the first one dug its teeth into it, ripping away the skin, flesh, and muscle. My terrified whisper was dry and raspy,

"I have no idea, but I have no desire to meet it. Let's go!"

Its head snapped around. We froze as it turned all the way toward us, looking at us hungrily. Our jaws dropped as we realized what it was. Standing before us was dinosaur; alive and breathing. Clutching Jill's arm, my mind went back to Jurassic Park: the only time that I was aware of where dinosaurs and humans had had any type of contact. I swallowed... that wasn't very encouraging.


	6. Fight for Life

AN: I know, it's been absolute ages and this is not at all rewarding for that long of a wait. I'm so sorry... I really am working again on the rest of the story. Now that school is out, I will actually have time. Anyway, this is short, but I hope that you enjoy it

* * *

"What is that?! No! That's not supposed to exist!!!"

Jill was frozen stiff, not listening to my panicking. Her nails were digging into my arm. We were scrutinized for a moment and then it let out a screech and charged. I grabbed Jill's hand, pulling her away. There was no chance. It was gaining. I struggled frantically to think of something but nothing came except what I was sure was the stupidest idea I'd ever had. But there was no other option.

"Jill?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, not exactly how I wanted to die.""Or me, but hey… you didn't actually think we'd die of old age, did you?"

I grinned, shaking off thoughts of my family, "No… guess not."

We slowed and turned to face the dinosaur. I looked at her, "Nice knowing you."

We charged the dinosaur. Like I said, probably about the dumbest idea we've ever had (and that's saying something), but if anything the dinosaur was confused. It stopped and stared at us as we ran toward it, screaming. Apparently, we weren't all that frightening because then it lowered its head and roared. Let me tell you, the thing really could have used a breath mint… or like five packs of them.

The following fight was a blur or flashing claws and teeth… and pain. Jill and I hadn't really expected to win, so we weren't necessarily surprised at the way things were turning out. Then Jill screamed and fell to the ground unconscious and it really did hit me… we were both going to die. For some reason, this gave me new energy and I screamed in the thing's face. It looked slightly confused, but then decided I wasn't really a threat and just slashed at me. It was the kind of slash that's designed to come up under your heart and pop the coronary vein, causing you to bleed to death in a matter of seconds but not toughening your meat. My brain supplied me with this pleasant bit of information and I reacted as any sensible person would: by stumbling backward. Unfortunately, the only bush for probably miles around had decided to plant itself right behind where I was standing and I fell. Then it was on me, sensing an easy kill. I kept fighting. Not because I thought I had any hope, but because I've never been the kind of person to just give up and die; that seems stupid to me. My right arm went completely numb and my vision began to swim. My brain was totally disconnected from the rest of me, supplying thoughts like how ironic it was that we had escaped drowning to be eaten by a creature that should have died millions of years ago.

A odd shriek sounded overhead and I looked up. I was lucky that the dinosaur looked up as well because otherwise he would have had me. Two winged dinosaurs swooped over our heads, apparently taking aim at the other dinosaur's head. I collapsed to the ground, too drained of energy and strength to do anything but watch. _They're saving us. Nice dinosaurs. _Like I said, my brain wasn't necessarily thinking logically or anything.

I looked up through dazed eyes and felt the blood running down my face. Both of the creatures swooped down in turn until finally the beast didn't stop again. Dazedly, I realized that they were coming back. _They're going to kill us. They didn't save us at all._

As if from a distance, I heard people conversing. I couldn't understand them; I was going mad. Gentle hands ran over my arm and skull. My eyes took a moment to register a boy leaning over me.

"Please," I was barely audible, "Please, my friend. She's hurt."

"Do not worry, my comrade is tending to her."

I was broken, my consciousness fading fast. There was nothing I could do, so I just let go, slipping into blackness.


End file.
